Oxygen transmission rates of packages at ambient, chill and freezing temperature measured by the AOIR method

Summary

Reliable methods for measuring oxygen transmission rate of packaging materials and packages are necessary to be able to choose the proper packaging for different food products depending on the oxygen sensitivity of the food and the required shelf life. The ambient oxygen ingress rate (AOIR) method is an alternative or supplementary method to Ox-Tran for measuring the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of packages. The method has high capacity, requires relatively inexpensive equipment and measures OTR at different temperatures and humidity conditions. The aim of this study was on one hand to study the effect of temperature on the OTR for packages produced from different polymer materials and laminates, and on the other hand to evaluate the suitability of the AOIR method at freezing temperature conditions. The OTR for ten packages with different polymer compositions was measured at 23, 6 and -25 C. The AOIR-method was shown to be a reliable test method for measuring OTR of packages at all the applied test conditions, also at frozen storage temperature. The OTR for the packages decreased with lower temperatures, especially for the packages with the highest OTR values at 23 C. In order to avoid higher packaging expenses than necessary to obtain the required shelf life for different food products, the OTR for alternative packages should be measured and compared at the temperature and humidity conditions of intended use.